


children

by oneEyedking



Series: Uzumaki-Kazekage family ficlets [1]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Cute Kids, Domestic, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, Kazekage Gaara (Naruto), Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Sunagakure | Hidden Sand Village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 15:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16065782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneEyedking/pseuds/oneEyedking
Summary: Suddenly Naruto is close to him, murmuring in his ear and pressing a kiss to his temple.“You deal with all three of them yourself. How do you do it?” He asks. Gaara makes a dismissive noise.Gaara told the children the story of himself, Shukaku and Suna.Yodo doesn't take it well.





	children

Yodo moves Gaara’s hands from the scrolls he’s holding and plops down in the Kazekage’s lap. Not an unusual occurrence, as he tended to have one of his young children in his lap at any given point in the day, seeing as they were incredibly attached him, but the little girl’s silence is another thing entirely. Usually Yodo never stopped talking, especially when she’d gotten over her previous distrust and shyness when Gaara first adopted her. Since then she'd been quite talkative.

“Hello, Yodo.”

The little girl says nothing, and Gaara looks down at her, blinking.

“Are you alright?” he tries again, brain reaching for any explanation for why his daughter was upset and so uncharacteristically quiet.

No response.

“Yodo, what happened?”

“Someone at school said something mean about you.” she finally mumbles, tiny hand clenched into a fist.

“Oh? Well, that’s okay, people have different opinions.” he soothed.

“But it was really mean!” she cries, clearly not pacified. She's obviously upset, and clearly needs to vent, so he asks.

Gaara pauses, “What happened?”

“This boy said that you were a monster and his parents said that you shouldn’t be Kazekage!” she sniffles. Nothing he hadn’t heard before, but it clearly upset the little girl, and her face was twisted up in a scowl.

He knows that look.

“Yodo, you didn’t...”

She crosses her little arms, “I punched him.”

“Yodo!” Gaara scolds gently, “What have I told you about fighting?”

“Only do it if I’m in danger...but--!”

“No ‘buts’. You don’t hit unless they hit you first. Then you can defend yourself.”

“But it was mean! He was saying mean stuff about you!”

Gaara sighs and hugs her close, “I understand, and I know it hurts when someone says something about a loved one, but you don’t have to defend me, or protect me. It’s my job to protect you. I’m sorry that little boy upset you, but please don’t get into fights or put yourself in danger for me, alright?”

She sniffles--but doesn’t answer--pouting.

Gaara knew where this came from. Or rather, he had an idea.

She'd been clearly troubled when he'd sat them all down and told them about his childhood in terms they could understand. He’d only bothered to do so because Araya had heard something about Shukaku (and then told the other two, of course), and Gaara realized that he couldn’t omit the truth to his children any longer, though really he didn’t want to say anything about it at all. He’d wanted them to live in blissful ignorance to the darkness of their father’s past for as long as they could, but he realized that wasn’t fair to them. They’d started asking _questions_ , and becoming curious about their father and the village he had such a complicated relationship with. Eventually he _had_ to answer. And he finally did. He’d censored his story dramatically and cut out a few things, but he’d told it as well as he could, and they understood.

All in all they took it in stride, assured that everything was okay now. But Yodo was quieter after.  Troubled, even. Gaara had tried to talk to her, but she’d wiggled out of his questions and he didn't push, not wanting to upset her. He just supposed it was a lot to take in, so she needed time. She was only five, after all, and he didn't want to stress her further. Causing his children any sort of heartache was his worst nightmare, truthfully.

But if she was getting into fights then…

“Is this about the story I told you the other day?” he asked carefully.

The little girl grumbled and sniffled again, wiping her nose with her fist.

“No one gets to be mean to you anymore.” she grumbled.

“Yodo--”

The little girl springs from his lap and takes off.

Gaara sighs.

~~~~~~

They're at the market when the next incident takes place. Yodo insists on holding at least two of the bags, and Gaara slows his pace to walk alongside the little girl who happily holds two bags worth of vegetables that are probably too big for her.

Gaara would take them, but she refused to let him carry them, so he'd been at a loss and given in. The rest of the children were at home, and Naruto was making sure they didn't get into the pantry before dinner while Gaara did the shopping, Yodo tagging along and insisting on coming with him.

He asks for carrots at the next stall they stop at, and smiles softly at Yodo when one of the bags she holds drops and she mumbles a soft, “Uh oh.”

He's in the middle of helping her when the shopkeeper finishes bagging what he asked for and gives him a wry smile.

“Here ya go. Chose the best ones. We should probably keep the vessel for the Shukaku happy after all--” the shopkeeper jokes easily, though Gaara's inside freeze and he cringes at the man's laughter. He feels himself flinch like he’d been hit, and even worse is that _Yodo_ sees it.,

“What did you say?!” She screams, tiny face scrunched in a scowl, startling Gaara and the shopkeeper as well. She throws the bags on the ground and lunges towards the shopkeeper before Gaara catches her and picks her up, rocking her gently.

“Yodo, we don't yell.” Gaara scolds gently, concerned. She usually doesn't act up like this.

“Oh, I--” the shopkeeper stammers, face flushing in embarrassment, “I’m sorry. That probably wasn’t something to joke about...”

“No, no. It's fine.” Gaara says, waving his apology off while trying to calm a squirming and screaming child.

“No, _no_! It’s not fine! He couldn’t control Shukaku and Shukaku was mean to him!” Yodo yells, tiny face red with anger and tears streaming down her cheeks, “I bet you couldn’t control it! Don’t make fun of my dad, he’s really nice and--”

“Yodo--”

“But he said--”

"It’s okay. He was just trying to make small talk.”

“You don't care?” Yodo asks, “But you made that sad face!”

Gaara shakes his head, “No. I don't really care what anyone thinks of me, in the end. And you shouldn't either.”

“But…”

Gaara picks up the rest of the bags and walks away, only making it a few steps before he adjusts his daughter in his arms.

“Why did that make you so upset?”

Yodo folds her arms, clearly distressed, “I don't want anyone to be mean to you again!”

“Yodo--”

“No! No one gets to be mean!” she insists, chubby face determined.

Gaara sighs, looking her in the eye, “I appreciate it, Yodo. But it was just something someone said to make conversation. No one was being mean to me on purpose. It's okay. I promise.”

It’s like Yodo senses his lie, and how he tries to make this all better for her, and Yodo erupts into a tantrum, tears streaming down her little face as she screams. Gaara bounces her gently in an attempt to soothe and holds her close, carrying her home.

~~~~~~

Naruto raises his eyebrows at the little girl’s tear-streaked face pressed into the front of Gaara's coat when he walks through the door of the Kazekage mansion. Gaara goes to put the girl down for a nap, not bothering to put the groceries down until he sets their daughter in bed and makes sure she's tucked in properly.

His husband follows him, watching him set their daughter down before he steps out and closes the door once it’s apparent that she’s asleep.

“What was that about?” Naruto asks, peering into Yodo’s room for a brief moment before following Gaara to the kitchen.

Gaara sighs and puts the remaining groceries on the counter, “A shopkeeper said something...off-color to me in front of Yodo. She wasn’t happy about it.”

Naruto’s eyes harden, “What did they say?”

Gaara pauses, taking in the look in his husband’s eyes, “Please don't start. I can’t handle you too.”

The Hokage forces himself to relax, “Sorry, I just...what happened? I’ve never seen her like that, ya know?”

Gaara tells him, hoping Naruto doesn't lose it as well.

Naruto clenches his fist and his eyes go dark for a moment, and Gaara can only think that he knows where Yodo got the fist-clenching from. How did he not notice before?

“You should talk to her. I’ve tried, but...” He pauses, not knowing how to finish the sentence, “I’m not very...”

“Good with feelings when it comes to how much your family loves you?”

“...Yes.” The Kazekage finishes, “She'll understand better coming from someone like you, I think.”

Naruto nods thoughtfully, “Yeah sure, I can talk to her.”

Gaara exhales, “Thank you.”

Suddenly Naruto is close to him, murmuring in his ear and pressing a kiss to his temple.

“You deal with all three of them yourself. How do you do it?” He asks. Gaara makes a dismissive noise.

“No, I mean it. I... I feel awful sometimes. I just wish we could all be together all the time.” Naruto says, sounding saddened and quiet suddenly.

“I know. But one day we may be able to.” Gaara offers, feeling Naruto’s heartache. He missed them too, all the time. He wasn't lonely (his kids seemed to chase the very notion so far from his mind) but he missed them so dearly it ached almost physically. It worse knowing Naruto is hurting because of the distance. Gaara wanted to see Boruto off to school, or help Himawari with her homework, but that was....impossible. At least on a day to day basis. Sure he took Araya, Shinki and Yodo and they visited Konoha but...

All these years together means that Gaara's knows what he means to Naruto. He knows the man is lonely for him especially, for the person who gets him more than he gets himself. Nights when he wants Gaara close so they can talk for hours or simply be hand in hand to _heal_ together.

But Gaara isn't there. And there are nights when Gaara can't sleep and is almost paralyzed by memories and old sadness and Naruto isn't there either. And they have to deal with that.

It isn’t fair. So few things in their lives ever were.

Naruto shoves his face into Gaara’s neck and _breathes_ , long and deep. Gaara runs his fingers through short, blond hair and tries to press all the reassurance he could into Naruto’s skin.

They can figure this out. They’ll be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I love my old gay ninja otp and their many kids thanks for listening


End file.
